Page 287 - Inventions - A Visual Encyclopedia (DK - Smithsonian)

Weather MARTIAN ROVERS
Camera instruments
Since 1997, NASA has sent a series of increasingly ambitious robot
rovers to explore Mars, investigating its atmosphere and geology
and looking for signs of ancient life and water. Driving conditions
on the rocky, dusty surface can be treacherous, and the limited speed
of radio signals makes it difficult to direct the vehicles from mission
control on Earth. So, recent rovers use artificial intelligence systems
to make basic decisions—such as avoiding obstacles and recognizing
which types of rock to study—without human intervention.

Viking Lander 1
Cameras and a
Surface sampler arm chemical “sniffer”
Antenna for
communicating SPACE
LANDERS ON MARS with Mars orbiters
Mars is easier to reach than most other planets,
but landing in its thin atmosphere is difficult.
In 1976, NASA’s pair of Viking orbiters put two
landers on the surface, using parachutes and
precisely fired retrorockets to control their
descent. While the orbiters mapped Mars from
space, the landers relayed the first images and
data from the ground.

Illustration of Galileo and Jupiter

PROBING THE GIANTS
Following its first brief flybys of the giant
outer planets, NASA has sent two orbiters to Arm with specialist
investigate Jupiter, and one to Saturn. Arriving imaging systems for
studying Martian
at Jupiter in 1995, Galileo released a smaller
geology in close-up
probe that parachuted into the giant planet’s
atmosphere. The Cassini mission carried
a European-built lander that touched down
on Saturn’s giant moon Titan in 2005.
Front wheels swivel
to change direction.
▶ CURIOSITY ON MARS
NASA’s car-sized, solar-powered Curiosity rover
touched down on Mars in August 2012 and has
since driven more than 11.2 miles (18 km).
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